By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire says he could wind up facing either WBC super bantamweight champ Abner Mares next or WBA champion Guillermo Rigondeaux next depending on what his manager Cameron Dunkin wants for him. Donaire will be fighting IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula on Saturday in a unification bout in Carson, California.

This fight is a big step backwards for Donaire from his last opponent Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Donaire wants to capture all the super bantamweight titles, so he’s starting small against the fighter that a lot of boxing fans see as the weaker of the four champions. If Donaire wins this fight it may be the only unification bout he wins, because I don’t like Donaire’s chances against Mares nor against Rigondeaux. They both appear to be a class above Donaire.

Donaire told RingTV “My next fight could be against Rigondeaux or Mares. My goal is to be the undisputed champion of this division…They have to wait their turn.”

Depending on what Donaire’s manager says, Rigondeaux and Mares could be waiting an awful long time because there’s also Jorge Arce out there that Donaire wants to fight. Arce looked awful in his last fight against Jesus M Rojas last month. Arce appeared to quit after being fouled. It wasn’t a good performance at all from Arce. Fighting Arce coming off of a performance like that would make Donaire look like a cherry-picker. I personally don’t see Donaire facing either Rigondeaux or Mares. Instead, we’ll likely see Donaire struggle against Mathebula on Saturday and then choose to fight the no names that the WBO has ranked. Donaire can milk his WBO title in relative safety for a couple of years doing that instead of facing Mares and Rigondeaux and getting beaten.